To note any declarations of
interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from
voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local
Government Finance Act, 1992. See attached note from the Monitoring
Officer.

The unrestricted minutes of the
Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 27 February 2019 are presented
for approval.

Minutes:

RESOLVED

1.
That the unrestricted minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on
Wednesday 27 February 2019 be approved and signed by the Chair as a
correct record of proceedings.

4.

ANNOUNCEMENTS (if any) FROM THE MAYOR

Minutes:

The Mayor made a number of announcements
including that:

·
The Council’s work tackling hate crime and violence against
women and girls had been recognised at the Local Government
Chronicle (LGC) Awards ceremony with a ‘Team of the
Year’ award. He highlighted how important this issue was to
the Council and congratulated the team, volunteers and champions
for their hard work.

·
Two Individual Mayoral Decisions had recently been taken. The
information was available on the website for those who wished to
view them.

·
The Council had held a successful staff awards ceremony earlier in
the day and it had been uplifting seeing the good work that was
being championed from across the Council.

5.

OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

5.1

Chair's Advice of Key Issues or Questions

Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC)
to report on any issues raised by the
OSC in relation to unrestricted business to be considered.

Minutes:

No Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions were
tabled.

Councillor Abdal Ullah, Chair of the Overview
and Scrutiny Committee, provided the meeting with a verbal update
on the recent work of the Committee. In particular he reported that
the Committee were considering ideas for the future of Overview and
Scrutiny to ensure it is able to robustly perform its work. A
report on this was expected soon.

In addition he highlighted a number of issues
that the Committee had discussed at its last meeting including:

·
A discussion on progress made in respect of Children’s
Services and he thanked the Lead Member and officers for the time
they had given to the Committee on this issue.

·
A discussion on community safety in light of recent terrorist
attacks across the world.

2.To agree that the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2019-24 be
published.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR,
HEALTH, ADULTS AND COMMUNITY (D. RADLEY)

(Violence Against
Women and Girls Co-ordinator (S. Bradburne)

Minutes:

Councillor Asma Begum, Deputy Mayor and
Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Equalities, introduced the
report on the new Violence Against Women
and Girls (VAWG) Strategy 2019-24. She highlighted that the
strategy was linked to the Council’s Strategic Plan and that
some actions, such as the signing of the VAWG Charter, had already
been delivered.

She highlighted how the Council had worked to
cover the biggest concerns raised by those impacted such as on
potential homelessness and it had looked at how to overcome
barriers to seeking support.

During discussion a number of points were
noted including:

·
This was a high level strategy and the underpinning action plan
would follow.

·
It was also noted that the strategy had been developed as a
partnership approach.

·
Working with schools to educate young people was vitally
important.

·
Violence took in a wide range of issues including actions such as
coercive control.

·
The Council worked to ensure services were available for both men
and women who were victims of violence.

The Mayor thanked everyone for
their contributions, welcomed the report and agreed
the recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.To agree the Violence Against Women and Girls
Strategy 2019-24

2.To agree that the Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy 2019-24 be
published.

1.To endorse the progress made in delivering the
children’s services improvement programme.

2.To agree the next steps in the improvement journey
which will be updated on in the next
report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR
CHILDREN AND CULTURE (D. JONES)

(Children’s Services Improvement Manager
(N. Rabbani)

(Divisional Director for Children’s
Social Care (R. Baldwin)

Minutes:

Councillor Danny Hassell, Cabinet Member for
Children, Schools and Young People, introduced the report setting
out the latest update on the Children’s Services Improvement
Programme. He took Members through a number of the areas of
improvement demonstrated including around staff recruitment and
retention and culture change.

He also highlighted areas where work was
ongoing such as on investigating new ideas around restorative
justice and the much stronger auditing of cases working through the
systems.

Finally he noted that there were a number of
areas that required further improvement including ensuring a
consistent service quality for all service users.

The Mayor welcomed the report
and discussion of the topic and highlighted that he and Lead
Members had been involved in many meetings examining progress
against this improvement plan. He agreed the
recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.To endorse the progress made in delivering the
children’s services improvement programme.

2.To agree the next steps in the improvement journey
which will be updated on in the next
report.

1.To note the Brexit Commission report attached in in
Appendix 1 to the report.

Action by:

CHIEF
EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Head of Corporate Strategy and
Policy (A. Hoque)

Minutes:

Councillor Amina Ali, Cabinet Member for
Culture, Arts and Brexit, introduced
the report from the Tower Hamlets Brexit Commission. She highlighted that the exact
nature of the country’s exit from the European Union had not
yet been confirmed which added to the risks for the Council and the
potential local impact.

She explained that the report looked to
identify both risks and opportunities for the local area and local
businesses.

During discussion a number of particular
issues were noted including:

·
The need to work with other London Boroughs to lobby for funding to
replace European funding streams.

·
Lobbying in other areas such as to have the skills budgets devolved
to Councils and to lift the immigration salary cap.

·
The ongoing work to publicise the rights of EU citizens, including
those who were staff.

·
It was important to take opportunities that arose especially in
encouraging new businesses to open in the area from around the
world.

The Mayor thanked everyone for
their contributions. He highlighted the importance of the Council
showing leadership to deal with whatever scenario was finally
agreed at a national level. He agreed the
recommendations as set out.

RESOLVED

1.To note the Brexit Commission report attached in in
Appendix 1 to the report.

1.To agree in principle that the land at Wayside
Gardens is declared surplus to the Council’s requirements and
is sold to the developer’s property holding subsidiary,
Drakar Limited, on the basis set out in
this report.

2.To note that a final decision will be taken via an
Individual Mayoral Decision subject to final consultation between
the Mayor and lead officers.

Pat Shaw House and 401 Mile End Road

1.To agree to the Council entering into leases of two
properties owned by Gateway Housing Association at the rents and
other main terms set out in paragraph 3.3 of the report and the
exempt Appendix 4 to the report.

2.To note that the properties will be manged by the
Council’s Housing Options Service to provide 40 units of
temporary accommodation for people in priority housing
need.

3.To delegate authority to the Acting Corporate
Director, Place to agree all other terms of the leases.

4.To authorise the Corporate Director, Place in
liaison with the Corporate Director, Governance to enter into the
necessary legal agreements required to implement the
recommendations above

Action by:

ACTING CORPORATE DIRECTOR, PLACE (A. SUTCLIFFE)

(Interim Head of Asset
Management (A. McCarthy)

(Interim Divisional Director,
Housing and Regeneration (M. Baigent)

Minutes:

The Mayor introduced the
report on two proposed property leases and a land disposal. He took
the report in two parts.

Pat
Shaw House and 401 Mile End Road

In terms of taking on leases at the above
properties the Mayor welcomed the report. He
highlighted that the proposals had been scrutinised by Lead Members
and were seen as offering value to the authority. He noted the
exempt appendix and agreed the recommendations as
set out.

Wayside Gardens

In relation to the proposed disposal of land,
the Mayor considered that on balance this was the
right approach in order to enable the development to go ahead.
However, he was acutely aware of the lack of open space in the
borough and welcomed the work officers were undertaking to explore
options for recreating this space. He also asked for more details
on the agreement with the developer including in respect of control
over future use of the disposed site. Finally, he also noted the
exempt appendix.

Following discussion, the Mayoragreed the decision in principle but
asked for more information in relation to the issues highlighted
above. Following the satisfactory conclusion of that discussion he
proposed taking an Individual Mayoral Decision to confirm his
view.

RESOLVED

Wayside Gardens

1.To agree in principle that the land at Wayside
Gardens is declared surplus to the Council’s requirements and
is sold to the developer’s property holding subsidiary,
Drakar Limited, on the basis set out in
this report.

2.To note that a final decision will be taken via an
Individual Mayoral Decision subject to final consultation between
the Mayor and lead officers.

Pat Shaw House and 401 Mile End Road

1.To agree to the Council entering into leases of two
properties owned by Gateway Housing Association at the rents and
other main terms set out in paragraph 3.3 of the report and the
exempt Appendix 4 to the report.

2.To note that the properties will be manged by the
Council’s Housing Options Service to provide 40 units of
temporary accommodation for people in priority housing
need.

3.To delegate authority to the Acting Corporate
Director, Place to agree all other terms of the leases.

4.To authorise the Corporate Director, Place in
liaison with the Corporate Director, Governance to enter into the
necessary legal agreements required to implement the
recommendations above

2.
To confirm that all contracts set out in Appendix 1 to the report
can proceed to contract award after tender

3.
To authorise the Divisional Director, Legal to execute all
necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts
referred to at Recommendation 2
above

4.
To note the procurement forward plan 2019-2022 schedule detailed in
Appendix 2 to the report.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR,
RESOURCES (N. MURTON)

(Head of Procurement (Z. Ahmed)

Minutes:

Councillor Candida Ronald introduced the
report. She highlighted the contracts set out in the Appendices to
the report including in the forward plan of contracts.

The Mayor agreed that all
listed contracts set out in Appendix 1 could proceed to contract
award after tender.

RESOLVED

1.
To note the contracts summary at Appendix 1 to the report.

2.
To confirm that all contracts set out in Appendix 1 to the report
can proceed to contract award after tender

3.
To authorise the Divisional Director, Legal to execute all
necessary contract documents in respect of the awards of contracts
referred to at Recommendation 2
above

4.
To note the procurement forward plan 2019-2022 schedule detailed in
Appendix 2 to the report.

7.

ANY OTHER UNRESTRICTED BUSINESS CONSIDERED TO BE URGENT

Decision:

Nil items.

Minutes:

Nil items.

8.

EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

Should the Mayor in Cabinet consider it
necessary, it is recommended that the following motion be adopted
to allow consideration of any exempt/restricted documents.

“That, under the
provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act, 1972 as
amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act, 1985,
the Press and Public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting
for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds
that it contains information defined as Exempt in Part 1 of
Schedule 12A to the Local Government, Act 1972”.

EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL
SECTION (PINK)

The Exempt / Confidential
(Pink) Committee papers in the Agenda will contain information,
which is commercially, legally or personally sensitive and should
not be divulged to third parties. If
you do not wish to retain these papers after the meeting, please
hand them to the Committee Officer present.

Decision:

Nil items.

Minutes:

Nil items.

9.

EXEMPT / CONFIDENTIAL MINUTES

Nil items.

Minutes:

Nil items.

10.

OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

10.1

Chair's Advice of Key Issues or Questions in Relation to Exempt / Confidential Business

Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC)
to report on any issues raised by the
OSC in relation to exempt/confidential business to be
considered.